Carrots Are The Best Vegetables

Chapter Ten

"She said she hated me, Gilbert... I don't think she'll ever retake me as a friend..." Cole looked haunted, and honestly, Gilbert didn't know if he would rather be dead or alive right now.

"Just... let me talk to her, alright?" Gilbert could feel a tragedy in his body as he rushed out of the classroom. It was fifteen minutes before school started... that should be enough time to get Anne back.

Gilbert almost immediately found Anne sitting near the river crying. She looked horrified, and terrified at the same moment. It was never meant to happen like this, and when Billy found out that everyone knew, well... it wouldn't be fortunate for Anne or Cole. "Anne."

Anne looked up, and wiped her tears before seeing Gilbert sitting next to her on a mossy log that she'd rested on. "Gilbert... you said... you said it was my decision, and then..." Anne paused herself, and her freckled head vanished into her damp sleeves.

"I also told you that we'd do this together. That is still true." Anne had figured that Matthew and Marilla had found out, as well as Miss Stacy, which froze her body even more. "I will be here. Do you understand? This isn't all on you. Together, we can do anything, Anne."

"Together?" Anne looked up, and her limbs suddenly had that warm feeling that had become so familiar to her during her time with Gilbert. Prior to her incident, it was a completely foriegn topic, and then she found the word she'd been looking for all of her life. She found it with Matthew and Marilla, with Diana and Ruby, with Miss Stacy, with the girls... and with Cole. And that thing was...

It was love. And she felt it with Gilbert. She'd been so foolish. Anne wrote about this thing in her books, and she felt like she recognized it so, but... she loved him... and she failed to see that.

"Together, Anne. Together we can do anything." Gilbert certified, with a fire flaming his lips, as the same went for the beautiful, freckled girl that sat across from him. Their hands touched as they grew closer together, like puzzle pieces that suddenly seemed to fit together.

With no shade of hesitation, Anne and Gilbert both leaned forward, and were greeted by each other's lips. Anne's were stained with tears, which tasted like salt on Gilbert's...

They both felt an uproarious symphony sing in their ears as they stayed together, until the school bell rang... they were both red as blood before they pulled away, and smiled in each other's eyes. "Together, we can do anything, Anne."

"Yes, together..." Anne's stone-gray eyes met Gilbert's hazel irises, and her hands flew to her face. She ripped the tears off of her face with a new passion in her, and stood up, looking towards the school-house determined. "... let's return." Anne took Gilbert's hand, which was hot with the heat that had previously been embedded in him, but now, it shone through him like the rays of the sun.

"Okay. Together."

"Together."

The two now emerged from the door of the classroom together, with a fierce look accompanying both of them. Anne ignored Cole, Ruby, and Diana's looks as she sat in her seat, and Gilbert sat in his, but they both shared the fire inside of them.

"Okay, class. I think we all would like to know that Billy is doing fine, and now is back at his house with minor injuries..." Miss Stacy forgot, or didn't mention the part where it was now certified that Billy had shot Anne, though Anne knew that Matthew and Marilla knew. She could just feel the storm brewing through her veins, like her skin freezing before the thunder struck the earth.

"Anne." Ruby Gillis whispered next to her, but Anne ignored her friend's pleas for forgiveness, and she could feel Cole's chocolate eyes on her, but she didn't care. She also saw Gilbert glancing at her, and that nearly made her forget about everything, since she remembered their kiss, but she had to deal with her truth... Billy had shot her.

Ruby continued to poke Anne for the duration of the school day, but Anne didn't care. Her friends would have to reap the consequences of their actions... and that wasn't Anne's problem, right now she needed to figure out how she'd explain all of this to Matthew, but mostly Marilla.

Eventually the day was over, and all of the three friends she'd come to hate chased after her like she was a loose chicken. Gilbert had began to stay behind with Miss Stacy to pursue his medical career, so she had no defense. She gave him a kiss on the cheek before leaving, and he gave her a sympathetic look, and a caress of her cheek, and lastly, a promise that she would survive this... but none of those would help Anne against the vultures that were Ruby, Diana, and especially Cole.

"Anne!" Diana and Ruby caught up as Cole lingered behind a little bit, since he knew that it was best for Anne to cool off when she was like this. "Anne, please forgive us, we didn't mean for anyone else to find out. Please, Anne, we can't live without you."

"And I can't live with you three. You betrayed me, so you will face the consequences. Ask Cole how I feel, he knows plenty." Anne growled, and fastened her step.

Cole had already filled the two girls tears with Anne's words, but that didn't seem to cease their attempts to get Anne back... back to who she was before Billy's rifle struck her, like a ballerina falling in a final act of tragedy.